'Opera Omnia' in the case of Polish composer Mikołaj Zieleński
means only two known works, but they are colossal. So huge, in fact,
that each has been recorded by Dux across three CDs. All six discs
are available in a recently-released box-set package, but initially
- and rather strangely, it must be said - each volume was issued separately.
The first three, Collegium Zieleński's recording of the Offertoria
Totius Anni, appeared between 2009 and 2011. They are reviewed
here.
The final trio, the Communiones Totius Anni, came out between
2011 and 2012, roughly in time to celebrate the 400th anniversary
of the publication of what is said to be Polish music's first work
in the Baroque style. Very little is known about Zieleński himself,
not even a birth date - some sources give around 1550, but there seems
to be little if any reliable evidence for this. He is chiefly known
from the publication in 1611 in Venice of these two separate cycles
for the church year, both dedicated to Wojciech Baranowski, Archbishop
of Gniezno and primate of Poland.

Now would seem the best time to consider acquisition of these recordings,
with the project complete and qualitative integrity quantifiable. Appropriately,
the Offertoria cycle has much to offer, although some may perhaps waver
over the 'inauthentically' large choirs and differentially-sized groupings
within them.

Volume 4 features - rather incongruously, in retrospect - the dulcet
voices of Emma Kirkby and Joel Frederiksen, no less. This was Kirkby's
only appearance in the project (almost - see below), presumably finding
her diary too busy for a return visit, but her presence, though minimal,
is something of a coup for Dux, and along with Frederiksen bound to
draw interest to the collection.

Unfortunately, despite Kirkby's attendance, the quality of music-making
on this particular disc, recorded a year before the last two, is a step
down from the rest. Much of the music here features a soloist (sometimes
duet) with simple organ accompaniment. Alas, tenor Zygmunt Magiera for
one sounds strained or even out of his depth, even if he only appears
on two tracks. Kirkby, it must also be said, is no longer in her prime.
Fine baritone Łukasz Motkowicz does what he can in the circumstances
- though his presence is also minimal. That leaves acclaimed bass Frederiksen
as the main attraction, and on the whole he makes a good job of what
is really an unforgiving role, yet like Kirkby, he does have his own
idiosyncratic and at times inconsistent (or at best 'European') ideas
about how to sing Latin. 'Kvey' for 'quae', 'tselli' for 'caeli' and
'z' for intervocalic 's', for example, are likely to grate on puristically-inclined
listeners.

All is not lost, however: volumes 5 and particularly 6 represent significant
improvements. There are no more solos as such, with many of the items
now sung by trios or, on the last disc especially, full, though still
oddly balanced, choir. There are still a few weaknesses apparent in
the singing - minor enunciation, timing, intonation and pronunciation
issues - but they are relatively insignificant, with voices combining
satisfactorily overall. Either of these two discs, in fact, would give
a level of value for money that is not available to anyone forking out
for the opera omnia - re-recording the below-par volume 4 would
go a long way towards rectifying matters.

Dux's engineering is good - better, indeed, than on the Offertoria discs,
as the reverberation has been toned down and the long gaps between tracks
reduced to more sensible levels. Kraków's Church of St Mary of
Fatima has been used to record all six volumes. Accompanying colour-coordinated
booklets give the original Latin texts with Polish and English translations.
There are detailed biographies of Zieleński and performers, with
small, 'Communist-style' black and white photos. Polish notes on the
music are printed in a dense, pro forma typeface. Once again, presumably
to save a few euros, the notes are given a rather shaky translation
by a non-native - who in addition seems sometimes only loosely familiar
with the rules of punctuation - making Galoński's arguments quite
hard to follow. Now and then the results are borderline gibberish: "Why
then he put texts under their parties?" ... "Did he want to prevent
a performing wilfulness of not sophisticated musicians?" There is, incidentally,
a slight numbering discrepancy, as the track-listing below shows - there
is no item no.24, lost presumably to a misprint between volumes 4 and
5.

As with the Offertoria, then, these are discs that will appeal almost
exclusively to collectors of the period or of Polish music. They should
be reasonably pleased with veteran conductor Stanisław Galoński's
labour of love, though all should think hard about parting with good
money for volume 4. Alternatively, Dux recorded a single 'highlights'
disc in 2008, perhaps to test the water, with Emma Kirkby the only soloist
- see review.
ByzantionContact atartmusicreviews.co.uk